Pair of Italian columns, 19th century.

Pair of Italian columns, 19th century.
In breccia corallina marble.
One column has a broken corner.
It has old chamfers.
Measurements: 120 × 43 × 42 cm each.

This imposing pair of columns, carved in breccia corallina, represents an exquisite example of the Italian decorative tradition of the 19th century, in full harmony with the historicist taste of the time. The breccia corallina is an ornamental stone of Italian origin, easily recognizable by its vibrant polychrome in warm tones: coral reds, pinks, beiges and ochers, with fragments of different shapes and sizes embedded in an orange-pink matrix reminiscent of coral, hence its name.

The shafts are smooth, cylindrical in shape and balanced proportions, carved in a single piece, which highlights the natural pattern of the marble. Their polished surface maximizes the visual effect of the marbling, so that the stone itself acts as an elemental decorative element. Both columns rest on solid square bases of white marble, with torus and scotch moldings that elegantly articulate the transition from the pedestal to the shaft. This play of hallmarks between the pictorial warmth of the coralline breccia and the classical sobriety of the light marble enhances the compositional richness of the whole.

Because of their dimensions and finish, these columns were conceived not so much as architectural supports, but as autonomous decorative elements, probably intended to flank an entrance, support busts, sculptures or art objects in aristocratic salons, cabinets of curiosities or historicist libraries.

The choice of breccia corallina, a stone associated since the Renaissance with nobility and luxury (often used in cladding, fireplaces and palace furnishings), reveals the nineteenth-century desire to recover materials with classical and Renaissance resonances, incorporating them into an eclectic ornamental language.